Mr. Samuel J. ("Chip") Morris became the Acting Regional Administrator for the Pacific Rim Region on January 1, 2015.

In his new role as chief executive of the Region, Mr. Morris heads a workforce of over 800 associates across California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii, as well as in Japan, South Korea and the U.S. territories of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, GSA’s Pacific Rim Region has an annual operating budget of almost $1 billion. Its 36 million square foot real estate portfolio, which houses over 100,000 federal employees and GSA associates, includes 178 government-owned buildings and leased space in 949 commercial buildings. Additionally, his responsibility includes the supply of goods, services, telecommunications and information technology to all federal agencies within the region with a value of more than $1 billion annually.

Prior to assuming this new position, Mr. Morris served as the Pacific Rim Regional Counsel for 3.5 years and has a long standing career in government and the private sector. As Regional Counsel, he led a team of attorneys who collectively handled a wide range of legal issues in one of the most multifaceted regions within GSA, including specialists in government contracting, real estate, construction, federal supply, disposal, digital technology and personnel matters, among other disciplines.

Mr. Morris served as Assistant Commissioner of Real Estate Acquisition in the Public Buildings Service (PBS) from July 2007-July 2011. He joined GSA in 1997 as Associate General Counsel in the Office of General Counsel in Washington, DC in charge of the Real Property Division. As GSA’s Associate General Counsel for Real Property, Mr. Morris managed legal activities and responsibilities pertaining to real property in support of GSA’s Public Buildings Service (“PBS”), and served as legal advisor on real estate matters to the Commissioner of PBS and other GSA officials. Before joining GSA, Mr. Morris served as Counsel to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) and the Resolution Trust Corporation (“RTC”). From June 1990 through August 1992, Mr. Morris worked in the Atlanta office of the RTC as a legal team leader on the intervention and resolution of failed financial institutions as well as a legal advisor on the liquidation of various assets of these institutions. From August 1992 through July 1997, Mr. Morris worked at RTC and FDIC headquarters in Washington, DC where he served as the lead counsel on various national sales initiatives of real estate and loans as well as on complex loan restructures and workouts of distressed assets. Before entering government service, Mr. Morris was a member of the Hilton Head Island, SC law firm of Novit Scarminach. He joined the firm after serving as house counsel for the Hilton Head Company, a real estate development subsidiary of Marathon Oil Company (a division of USX Corporation). While working at Novit Scarminach, Mr. Morris specialized in commercial real estate transactions and general business law focusing on the development, ownership, sale and acquisition of commercial and resort facilities as well as planned communities and condominiums. Mr. Morris also served as the President of the Hilton Head Island Bar Association.

Mr. Morris graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Relations. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of South Carolina Law School where he was active in the Moot Court Bar. He is a member of the North Carolina State Bar and the South Carolina Bar.